


Unwanted

by Lupin_73276



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Angst, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Happy Ending, M/M, Physical Abuse, Sexual Content, Triggers, Verbal Abuse, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-31
Updated: 2012-10-31
Packaged: 2017-11-17 11:43:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/551178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lupin_73276/pseuds/Lupin_73276
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after the end of Season 2, AU.<br/>Justin left Brian because it seemed Brian didn't care enough to stop him. But Justin didn't realize that walking out of the RAGE party with Ethan was the worst mistake he ever made. What are the consequences?<br/>Warning Violence!<br/>Justin is quite OOC, this is to fit the storyline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story does have graphic descriptions of violence. I did not enjoy writing it, and it is unpleasant to read. But it is part of the storyline so inevitable, this is my version of an evil Ethan that came to me after reading some other fics and season 2.

Justin saw Ethan looking over his shoulder, Justin turns around and his eyes connect with Brain's. The brunet removes the mask and stares right back at the blonde. Justin knew, by the look in his eyes, that he wasn't going to stop him, didn't care enough to stop him. In that moment Justin realizes that Brian never loved him, and wouldn't miss him if he was gone. The pain was obvious in his blue eyes, pain that no matter how much he loves the older man, he would never receive that love in return. Justin takes one last look at Brian before turning back to Ethan and walking out of Babylon with him.

Brian puts the mask back on his face then turns to the hottest guy close to him, trying to ignore the ache in his chest, putting his walls back up. He would not let Justin's departure affect him, but the emptiness he felt was evident in his hazel eyes.

\---

Justin returns to the Loft a few days later to fetch the things he had left behind. He knocks on the huge metal door.

"Brian!" He waits, silently hoping the other man wasn't home. "Brian!" He unlocks the door with the key he still hadn't returned and slid the door open with a loud bang, that echo's through the open space. He takes a step into the familiar place that he used call home. "Brian." No reply came. He walks a little further into the Loft. "Brian." There was still no reply.

Assuming that the brunet isn't here, and thankful for it, Justin walks over to the couch and opens his black duffle back. He picks up two pairs of sweat pants, and a t-shirt from the couch and pushes them into the bag. Hearing a laugh and gasp he slowly turns around. He sees Brian laying, naked, on the black leather chaise lounge with himself sat on his thighs, also naked. He remembers this. He was feeding Brain vanilla ice cream.

_Justin leans down and kisses Brian. Justin drips ice cream on the taller mans nipple. They meet in a kiss, then Justin licks the ice cream off the brunet's body. Justin moves further down Brian's body, the older man arches his back, small moans escaping his mouth. Brian places the spoon in his mouth, sucking the remaining ice cream off the cool metal silverware, arching his back encouraging Justin. Brian slides his hand up Justin's right thigh, then up to the blonde's back._

Justin turns away from the scene and heads towards the bedroom, his sneaker's lightly squeak as he walks across the laminate flooring. He opens the second drawer, of the chest of drawers, grabbing his socks and underwear, shoving them in the duffle bag. He slides the wardrobe door open, the coat hangers clang together as he roughly pulls his tops out of the closet and into his bag. He then hears the shower running. Hesitatingly he walks towards the bathroom. He steps inside, seeing himself and Brian stood under the spray of water.

_Justin and Brian kiss, the extra wetness from the shower not bothering them. They press their foreheads together, and close their eyes. Brian then turns Justin around and pushes him against the glass shower wall. He quickly prepares the blonde, then rolls a fresh condom over his erection. He thrusts into Justin, and the smaller man moans, laying his head back onto Brian's shoulder, mouth hanging open in pleasure. Brian's hands rest on the pale man's hips. Justin leans forward again as Brian begins to move, thrusting in and out, while gripping his hips. Justin rests his forehead on his right arm, that is supporting his body against the glass wall. As Brian moves he leans down, pressing his chest against Justin's back and kisses the back of the blonde's ear. Then the brunet rests his chin on his younger lover's shoulder. Justin tilts his head to the side so Brian can access his neck, then runs his hand over the side of Brian's face. Both of them moaning, and gasping._

Justin tries to ignore the figures in the shower as he picks up his black toiletry bag, and his toothbrush throwing them in his bag, glancing at the now empty shower before striding back into the bedroom. He then steps down the two stairs back into the main space, and walks over the white dining table, which has sheets of paper littered over it. Justin picks up the art supply box that Lindsey bought him, then his black portfolio folder. Once again hearing movement he turns towards the bedroom to see himself being fucked by Brian on the bed.

_Justin is laid on his stomach as Brian thrust into him, brushing his prostate with every stroke. Brian braces himself on his arms that are placed on each side of Justin. Brian rests his forehead on Justin's back, between his shoulder blades, as they move together. Brian grips the smaller man's hips as he thrust harder. Justin leans up onto his elbows, tilting his head back in pleasure. Brian presses his head to the back of the blonde's, stroking the younger man's side. Justin lays back down, his mouth open as he moans, and Brian tosses his head back a little. Justin places his hand on Brian's right thigh, encouraging the older man as he began to speed up._

Justin started walking towards the door, blatantly ignoring the two men moving behind the frosted glass, pushing back his memories.

_Justin and Brian continued their frantic pace, their moans echoing though the Loft._

Justin quickly walks out of the door, turning to look into the open space again. Then closes the door, cutting off the visions of his life throughout the passed two years.

\---

Brian enters the Tremont building. He checks his mail box and finds a key to the Loft inside, Justin's key. It hits him again that Justin would not be at home waiting, with a sunshine-y smile, for him. He puts the key in his coat pocket before getting into the old elevator, and waiting for it to reach the top floor. Brian unlocks the metal door and opens it with a clang. He steps in and closes the door behind him. The brunet walks over to the couch, looking around a little as he moves, he then takes off his coat as he heads towards the bedroom. Walking over to the wardrobe he notices the door is open and that the second drawer is open as well. Throwing his coat on the bed he moves closer to the chest of drawers. The runs his fingers over the wood, almost as if he was missing the things that are no longer there, he then turns around and bends at his middle. When he rises he has a dark coloured sock in his hand, obviously one that Justin had dropped, he then looks closer into the closet, noticing the empty coat hangers. He turns to face the bed and throws the sock onto the blue sheets. Then glances into the open bathroom, before heading down to the dining table. He picks up a picture of Rage holding JT. He looks at the picture for a moment, then crumples it into a ball, trying to forget the artist who drew it.

\---

Justin couldn't believe that Mel and Linds had invited him to their anniversary party, even though he isn't with Brian any more. They even told him to bring Ethan. Justin had been afraid that what Michael had said out side the Diner was true and no one wanted any thing to do with him any more. He had quit the Diner, not wanting to make it awkward for them.

The party had definitely been lively. Brian had walked in on him in the bathroom, and told him that he hopes he gets what he wants. Then Deb told him that no matter what Michael said, he didn't speak for her or the others, and that she expected him back at the Diner tomorrow morning. Him and Ethan had been stood in the front yard when Justin heard Michael call him a 'selfish little shit' and that Brian saving his life wasn't worth it and Brian should have just left him lying there. Justin had been about to tell Ethan that they should probably go when out of the corner of his eye he saw Brian punch Michael, then walk out of the party being followed be accusing looks. If only they knew what Michael had said before Brian punched him, maybe they would have acted a little different. Justin was confused as to why Brian had punched Michael in the first place, he finally concluded that Brian just wanted Michael to stop talking about him, that Brian didn't even wanted to hear Justin's name. Justin knew then that Brian didn't want him, if he ever wanted him in the first place.

\---

Justin walked past Debbie and Michael who was talking to a _RAGE_ fan, asking when the next issue was coming out. He hears Michael reply that he isn't sure. Justin knows that Michael doesn't like him and no longer wants him around, well he never wanted him around before _RAGE._ So Justin decides to make it easier and if Michael approaches him, he would refuse to continue _RAGE_ so that he didn't burden Michael with his presence.

As he predicted Michael did ask him if they were continuing _RAGE_. Justin sarcastically says "Are you saying we should work together?" knowing that his attitude would push Michael away from the idea further. Michael then says that they don't have to like each other, Justin threw out some bullshit about Michael betraying him, and Michael replied that he betrayed himself and Brian. Justin knows he is right, of course he is, but he needed to be strong and keep refusing, for Michael's sake. So that Michael didn't have to see him any more then he had to. To finish it off Justin says "I don't want anything to do with _RAGE,_ or you." Then turns back to the board. He did want to continue _RAGE_ , and to be friends with Michael, but Michael didn't want him around anymore, so Justin just made it easier for him. He sighs as he hears Michael walk away.

\---

_2 weeks later_

Justin sits on the crooked couch while he thinks about his and Ethan's relationship. While Justin had still been with Brian, everything had been perfect between him and the violinist. But, since the _RAGE_ party, and Mel and Linds' anniversary things seem to be tense. The last 3 weeks Ethan isn't as attentive as he had been, and always seemed to be in deep thought. There was also times when Ethan would yell at him for no reason, telling him things that he knew were true but didn't want to hear. Such as yesterday when Ethan has shouted at Justin that he was damaged and worthless, that his art was nothing. Justin took the verbal abuse, believing he deserved it.

His inner monologue was cut off by the very same violinist he had been thinking about moments before. The smile falls from the blonde's face as he notices Ethan's aggravated expression. The dark haired man stomps into the apartment, slamming the door and all but throwing his so-called precious violin case on the floor.

"Ethan … what's wrong?" The blonde asks, but becomes terrified as the scruffy man turns to him with anger and hate written all over his face. Justin visibly recoils. This is not the person he knew.

"Those idiots! Can they not recognize genius when they hear it?" Ethan yells at the top of his voice. "Nine dollars! NINE dollars! That's all I made today." His fists clench, his eyes seem almost black with rage. Justin starts to become even more scared at this person standing in front of him.

"E-Ethan, calm down. I'm sure it'll be better tomorrow." Justin tries to ease away the tension in the room.

Ethan whirls around to face him, an evil, condescending smirk on his face. "You. What do you know? Your work is mediocre at best! You are mediocre! Do you not realize? I took pity on you! Your friends, your _lover,_ " Ethan spat the word, "They don't want you. You are worthless to them. That's why it was so easy to get you. They didn't put up a fight to keep you, because they don't want you!" Justin flinched at Ethan's words, but he began to realize that they were true, of course he is right. "They don't want a stupid, kid. They don't want a damaged kid, who can't even draw properly 'cause poor _little_ Justin was bashed in the head!" Tears started to fall down Justin's cheeks, this isn't the person he had feelings for. "No one wants you Justin. Not you Father, not your friends, not even your own Mother, and most certainly not Brian. He only looked after you for this long because he felt guilty. I bet that he wished you had died. So that he would have had to put up with your panic attacks, your nightmares and just you in general. I bet they all wished you had died. It would have saved them a lot of trouble."

"You're wrong!" Justin screams. Tears came freely. He may be unwanted by his friends and Brian, but his Mom loves him, and she definitely didn't wish he had died.

The hit is unexpected. Ethan pulls his right hand back, then flings it forward at full speed. Connecting with Justin's left cheek. The blonde falls to the floor, bowled over by the force. He covers his cheek, that burns with pain. He looks disbelievingly at Ethan. The other man stares down at him, with a dark, superior look.

"No one loves you anymore Justin. You are my toy now. You belong to me now. You can't leave, because you are unwanted by everyone else you know." Ethan's voice was calm, but his eyes bored into Justin's. The blonde shrunk back. This was his life now. He had become this _monster's_ possession. Ethan was right. Justin couldn't leave, he had no where to go. He was after all, unwanted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this is unpleasant to read, it was unpleasant to write, but I have to show the escalading violence that Ethan forces on Justin.  
> Warning; A lot violence in this chapter.

After Ethan had left Justin laying on the floor of their apartment Justin huddles in a ball and sits, for hours, thinking. He knew that he had to get something to conceal the bruise that was no doubt developing around his left eye. So he had ventured to Daphne's, claiming that he had come to pick up a few things. He had stolen some of her make-up that she used to cover blotches and pimples, but it would be sufficient to cover his eye. Daphne had been concerned, but didn't press him after he spouted some excuse about walking into the door, which she knew was bullshit.

After that night things got progressively worse. Ethan continued to place seeds of doubt in Justin's mind, keeping him in his cruel grasp. The physical abuse also started to escalade.

\---

_Tuesday. The day after the first hit._

Justin walks into the colorful Diner, and is greeted by Deb. He puts on his apron and gets to work busing tables and taking orders. The make-up he stole from Daphne had successfully covered the purple-y, blue bruise around his eye. The last thing he needs is Deb questioning him and faking concern. A faint smile graces his lips as he works, loving the homey feel of the Diner. The costumers hit on him, which makes him genuinely smile, they never change, and he gets good tips.

Luckily he is on an early shift, which ends at 7 pm, so he wouldn't see the gang. Which he is thankful for. He didn't want to make them uncomfortable, and it hurt to know that the people who he used to call friends don't enjoy his presence.

He walks out of the Diner and slowly begins to walk home, not totally sure if he wants to go _home_ at all. He is a little apprehensive. Ethan had truly scared him. That was a part of Ethan that he had never seen before. So cold, so uncaring, so … cruel. Justin shivers remembering the pain as Ethan's hand had made contact with his skin. The hit had hurt, a lot. But what he hurt more was Ethan's words. Justin had thought about it all day, the words like ' _Damaged kid_ ', ' _Unwanted_ ' and ' _Wished you had died_ ' span around his head. Almost making him nauseous. Was it true? Yes. Justin was beginning to believe Ethan's words the more he thought about it. He is damaged. Chris Hobbs saw to that. He is unwanted. Brian didn't want him, the only reason he took him in after the bashing was because he felt guilty, he never came to see him at the hospital. Maybe they do wish he had died. He had caused everyone a lot of problems, his Mother, Debbie and everyone else had been subjects of his mood swings, Brian was subjected to his nightmares. Hell, Michael had come right out and said that Brian should have left him laying there. Justin's breath caught in his throat, he holds back tears. He has a huge realization. Ethan is one hundred percent right. A single tear escapes, runs down Justin's pale cheek and splashes on the cold concrete.

Justin walks into the small apartment silently hoping the Ethan isn't there. He is. Ethan takes one look at Justin's defeated expression and smiles in glee, the scruffy violinist knows that he had broken the blonde with his cruel words. And now Justin belongs to him, his toy. Ethan frowns as he notices that Justin has covered up the bruise Ethan had given him. The dark haired man is not pleased. He thought the blonde looked gorgeous with a beautiful purple ring around his eye. Decoration. Marked Justin as his. It brought the damaged Justin from the inside and let it show on the outside.

"Go wash that make-up off your face. I want to see the pretty mark I gave you." At Ethan's words Justin disappears into the bathroom and removes the mask covering the dark bruise. He walks back into the main living space. Ethan smiles madly when he sees the bright bruise marring the blonde's face.

"Come, sit." Ethan drawls. Justin managed to suppress a grimace. As he sits on the edge of the worn bed Ethan touches the dark skin, non to gentle. Justin hisses in pain, which only makes Ethan press on the wound harder in sick amusement, liking the noises of pain that Justin makes.

"You damaged whore. Now people can see how damaged you are on the outside, instead of looking on the inside." Ethan says in a smooth, eerie, condescending voice. Wait, whore? That was new.

"Whore?" Justin asks, offended by the word.

"Yes, whore. You're a whore Justin. You were Brian's personal whore, and you were a whore in the clubs. Fucking so many men. And that's what you call someone who sleeps around, a whore Justin." Ethan explains like Justin is five years old.

Justin becomes angry. "I'm not a whore. Just because I liked to fuck different guys doesn't make me a whore! I didn't sell my self on street corners!"

"Maybe not. But a whore is what you are. Brian made you a whore, I don't blame you. You followed him around, never denied him when he requested sex from you. Then he taught you to flaunt your body, using it to get what you wanted, to get laid. He made you a whore." Ethan stated.

Justin's mind is working faster than five miles an hour. He couldn't tell Ethan he is wrong, because he isn't. Everything Ethan said was the complete and utter truth. Justin felt disgusted with himself, and he could see how other people would find him disgusting and repulsive as well. An evil smile spreads across Ethan's face as he watches Justin accept what he had said to be true.

Ethan pushes Justin down onto the bed and starts undressing the blonde. Justin starts to protest.

"You are a whore, aren't you Justin? Isn't this what whores do?" At that sentence Justin fell silent, and he let Ethan do as he please. Numb to all emotion and feeling, except disgust.

When they are naked Ethan rolls on a condom, muttering about how whores could have all sorts of diseases and he doesn't want to catch anything. Justin opens his mouth to say that he is tested every six months and was clean, but decides to stay quiet. He knew that if he said that, Ethan would probably fuck him raw, which is something he definitely does not want.

Ethan takes him hard and rough. Leaving finger shaped bruises on Justin's arms, hips and legs. Justin doesn't even get hard, never mind actually having an orgasm. Ethan only cares about his own pleasure, his own release.

The blonde is thankful when the violinist finally climaxes, pulls out, disposes of the condom and falls asleep. Justin lays naked, vunerable, abused. He hates what he had let Ethan do to him, but he no longer had the strength to fight. No one wanted him, he had no where else to go. He had now also been declared a whore. The blonde curled into a ball, tears fell freely now.

\---

_Wednesday._

Justin walks down Liberty Avenue. He is not in the best of moods. His ass hurt. His eye hurt. And, to top it off, his hand had played up in class earlier. He enters the Diner, which sours his mood even more. He has a later shift tonight 6 pm to 11 pm, which meant that he would inevitably see at least one of the gang, if not all. Never the less he got straight to work, once again losing him self in the homely atmosphere. However his now borderline happy mood was shattered when Ted and Emmett walk in at sit at their regular booth. Luckily Debbie goes straight to them, so he has escaped the torture of talking to them. His luck soon loses it's charm when Michael and Ben walk in, with Brian following ten minutes after. Brian glances at him, but other wise ignores his presence. Michael on the other hand switches from sending him icy glares, to ignoring him like Brian. Ben and Emmett had said a polite 'hello' when they had entered but that was all, not that the blonde expected anything, but maybe his heart had hoped. Their impassive behavior towards him only cemented his doubts. Which only led him further into Ethan's grasp. He sighs.

"You're home late." Are the words that greet him when he walks into the apartment.

"I had a late shift at the Diner." Justin replies emotionlessly.

"Yeah, right. More like you were whoring yourself out! You're pathetic!"

"No! I was at the Diner!" Ethan back hands the blonde, hard.

Justin strokes the pain enflamed skin of his right eye. Knowing that he would now have a matching bruise developing there. He looks at Ethan and sees the blackness of his eyes, Ethan is in a rage tonight, like that first night. Ethan pushes the blonde further into the apartment, and Justin stumbles next to the bed. Ethan strides over.

"You need to learn your place again." Ethan draws his right hand back and punches Justin in the jaw. The blonde falls onto his hands and knees. His lip has split, and the hit had caused him to bite his tongue. He spits out a mouthful of blood onto the floor, his lips stained red.

Ethan smiles darkly. "Lets put some more pretty bruises on that blank canvas of yours." Ethan lifts his foot, then delivers a hard kick to Justin's right side. The blonde curls into a ball on the floor, clutching his side. Ethan lifts his foot again, Justin moves to cover his ribs. Ethan merely smirks and forcefully stomps on Justin's left ankle. The blonde yelps in pain. Ethan then turns away, happy that he coxed a noise from the other man. The dark haired monster strips to his underwear, for a dreadful moment Justin wonders if Ethan will take him again. Thankfully Ethan climbs into bed and his loud snores moments later alert the blonde that his keeper is asleep. Justin sighs in relief, then gasps in pain as he tries to stand up. His right side ribs send jolts of pain through his body and his left ankle throbs. Justin curls into a smaller ball and wills his body to sleep.

\---

_Thursday._

Today has been the worst for Justin so far. His hand played up again in class, and he was limping which led to teachers asking questions. He managed to blow them off saying he sprained it. His face felt a little uncomfortable because the bruises hurt, the right more then left, and he had to cover them with quite a bit of make-up, which he is not used to. He stands in the bathroom at PIFA, and looks at him self in the mirror. He is starting to fade. His blue eyes are loosing their sparkle. His sunshine smile has dimmed to a nightlight. His whole expression screams exhaustion and defeat. Like he had given up, which was ultimately true. He sighs and turns away from the stranger in the mirror.

He shift at the Diner is smooth. None of the gang arrive, mostly because he in on the early shift again. Debbie asks him why he is limping, and his gives her the same lame-ass excuse he gave his teachers. She looks at him suspiciously but drops the subject. Half way through his shift Justin disappears into the employee lounge in the back to throw back a few painkillers, to ease the ache in his side and leg. After his shift he walks back to the apartment as quickly as his wounded leg will carry him.

When he enters the small living space Ethan doesn't even speak to him. The violinist simply pushes him, roughly, to the floor and begins to rain punches and kicks all over Justin's pale body. He scrubs the make-up off with a wet rag, then Ethan then begins to tear at the blonde's clothes, his nails biting into Justin's skin creating scratches and making the blonde bleed. Ethan lets out a gleeful laugh as the blood raises to the surface, and he smears the red substance over Justin's skin.

Ethan stands back to look at his play thing. What he sees pleases him. The trembling naked blonde has dark bruises around each eye, a large purple blotch on his ribs, his left ankle is slightly swollen and has a blue mark, new bruises are beginning to appear and Ethan absolutely loves the ruby red streaks that decorate the other mans body.

Justin lays on the rough carpet, shivering for the cold. He hurts, everywhere. He is terrified by the deranged, mad look in the violinist's eyes. He is a completely different person to the charming man Justin met at the violin recital. Tears silently fall down his cheeks as Ethan once again violates him, whispering ' _whore_ ' and ' _my little toy_ ' in the blonde's ear.

Justin has never felt more alone.

\---

_Friday._

Debbie watches as Justin limps around the Diner, a fake smile plastered to his face. But she can see past it. She can see the emptiness in his eyes, no longer a sparkling ocean blue but a dark dull, lifeless blue. His sunshine smile, which earned him his nickname, is never present. She watches as his right hand trembles worse than she has seen in a long time. She doesn't miss the flinch and hiss of pain when he places too much weight on his left leg. Something's not right.

Justin notices Deb watching him as he runs around the Diner. He knows that she can read him almost as well as Brian could. He flashes her the brightest smile he can manage, he hopes it didn't come out as a grimace. Justin continues working, trying to ignore Deb's piercing eyes.

Debbie approaches Ted, Emmett, Michael, Ben and Brian when they sit at their regular booth. She takes their orders, but then turns to something way more important.

"Has anyone noticed something up with Sunshine?" She places one hand on the tables and the other on her hip. They all look at her for a minute, all taking separate quick glances at Justin.

Emmett is the first one to break the silence. "Now that you mention it Deb he is acting a little off. He doesn't have his sunshine smile, and he looks lifeless. I've just seen him limp too." The others nod, agreeing, even Michael.

"To right he's been limping, his hand acted up earlier too it was trembling worse than I've seen in months. Something's not right."

"Ma, I'm sure he's fine. After all he has got his new _boyfriend_ to look after him." Michael says with a sneer.

"Yeah, and what if that little fucker isn't taking care of Sunshine?" Debbie snaps back.

For the first time Brian speaks. "If there was something wrong he would tell you Deb. He's probably just stressed. No need to worry."

"You heartless asshole." Debbie smacks him upside the head. "Fine, I'll let it go for now. But if something is wrong and he hasn't told us, there's going to be hell to pay." She whispers heatedly before walking off. No matter what Brian _Fucking_ Kinney says, heartless shit, there was something wrong with Sunshine. Debbie felt it in her gut.

Justin was glad to get out of the Diner. He had seen Debbie whispering to the gang, and they had all given him curious looks. It had made him paranoid, like they were talking about him. Probably saying how glad they were to not have him in their private lives anymore. Lost in his thoughts Justin bumps into someone right outside the apartment building. He looks up to see a man that looked to be a few years older than him, he had coffee colored eyes, sandy blonde hair and a kind smile.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Justin rambles.

He hears the man chuckle. "It's fine, I wouldn't mind literally running into someone as hot as you everyday." Justin lightly blushes at the mans comment. Then quickly apologizes again before entering the building. He is once again met by an angry Ethan.

"What the hell was that?" The dark haired man screams.

"What?" Justin asks, genuinely confused.

"Outside. You were openly flirting with that man. How do you think that makes me look. My toy shamelessly flinging himself at other men!" Ethan throws the first punch and it sends Justin crashing to the floor. He endures a few more blows, before his shirt is roughly pulled from him. The blonde wonders what Ethan has planned. His eyes widen in fear as he notices Ethan holding a glass in his hand. The violinist smirks before smashing the cup into thousands of shards beside the blonde. Justin can't breath a sign of relief before Ethan uses his foot to push Justin onto his back, into the glass. Justin cries out in pain as the glass starts to embed into his back, surely cutting it to ribbons. Ethan laughs manically before easing the pressure of his foot allowing Justin to roll away a little before pushing him back into the glass. He repeats this a few times, then rolls Justin onto his stomach, away from the glass, to admire the blonde's back. Ethan is happy to see the pale skin covered in blood, with shards of glass sticking out of his skin. The dark haired man smirks in the knowledge that the blonde's previously unmarred, perfect skin of his back will now have small permanent scars that he caused. He laughs joyfully before standing up and retrieving his violin case.

"I will be back late, your pretty markings have inspired me." Ethan states coolly, with a psychotic happy tone in his voice. The door slams shut, leaving Justin alone in the apartment. He know that he needs treatment for his back, but he dare not go to the hospital, then he would have to go back to people who didn't want him. He knew there was only one person he could trust. He had to call Daphne.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang start to have their suspicions. It will get worse for Justin before it gets better, but at least he has Daphne now.  
> Warning; Mentions of previous violence and blood.

Three sharps taps at the door cause Justin's head to snap up. He sits completely still, not knowing who is on the other side.

"Justin?" Daphne's muffled voice echoes through the door.

Justin almost sobs with relief. "Daph." He yells.

The door knob turns and the battered door slowly opens to reveal his confused friend, who gasps in horror when she sees Justin sat, hunched over, on the floor covered in bruises. She could see the huge purple blotch on his right side, and matching bruises around the blonde's eyes. She could see the bruises that were starting to develop. Tears came to her eyes at the sight of her strong friend looking so broken. Daphne quickly shuts the door and rushes over to Justin, she falls to her knees in front of him.

"Justin, what happened?" She whispers, stroking the side of his face.

Justin averts his eyes, ashamed. "Ethan." He chokes out. A sob escapes Daphne, and a tear rolls down her face. Justin is forced to look at her as he asks. "Will you help me, please?" Daphne nods. Justin had told her to bring bandages and first aid kit, she was confused at the time but know she's glad she had listened to him.

A tear escapes Justin as he murmurs. "My back." Daphne looks at him quizzically, and shuffles around him to look at his back. She gasps and a loud choked sob slipped through her lips. Justin's back had many shards of glass embedded in his flesh, and is covered in his own blood, dried and fresh. Daphne gently places her hand on the blonde's shoulder, tears streaming down her eyes.

"Justin, we have to go to the hospital." She pleads.

Justin furiously shakes his head. "No. I can't. No one can know." His breath is ragged.

"Justin, please," Daphne begs.

"No!" He yells. He looks at her apologetically, and tries to make her understand. "I can't."

Daphne looks at her friend and sees the desperation in his dull blue eyes. Finally she gives in and nods. He gives her a small smile. Daphne stands up and fetches a bowl from the kitchen, the returns to her place behind Justin. She gets her tweezers out of her bag.

"This is going to hurt, I'm sorry." Daphne says.

"It's okay, just do it." Justin breathes.

Daphne holds the first piece of glass between the tweezers, gently she begins to pull it out. Blood trickles from the wound, and Justin hisses. She drops the red stained, clear fragment into the bowl. The slight sound of the glass hitting the walls of the ceramic bowl cuts through the silence that has fallen between the two friends. The silence continues as Daphne removes the glass from Justin's pale blood stained back. Finally she removes the last piece.

"That's all the glass, I'll clean you up." She whispers, Justin just nods. Daphne walks over to the kitchen, fills the kettle and flicks the button for it to boil, then pours the glass into the trash, and rinses the blood out of the bowl. She then grabs a big plastic bowl from the cupboard under the sink. While the kettle boils she sits in front of Justin and pulls out a tub of witch hazel from her bag. She proceeds to rub the cream on the multiple bruises, and soon to be bruises, on the blonde's body. The cream would sooth the bruise, and make it a little less tender, and make it fade quicker. As she finishes applying the cream she hears the kettle finish boiling. She puts the cream back in her bag and stands. She pours the hot water in the bowl, then adds some cold water and tests the temperature. She adjusts the water until it is luke warm. She sits behind Justin again. Daphne pulls a pack of cotton wool pads from her bag. She dips the cotton wool into the water and starts washing away the blood and bathing the cuts on Justin's back. She places the blood soaked cotton wool in a small plastic bag. When she has finished cleaning his back the water is red. She empties the water into the sink, and puts the cotton wool in the trash. She looks at her friends back, it is covered in small cuts no more than an inch long and an inch deep at the most. She knew that they would leave scars. She dabs the excess water away with a clean cloth, then attentively applies iodine so that the wounds don't become infected. After she wraps clean bandages around his chest, and over his shoulders then secures the end of the bandage with surgical tape. Then she gently strokes his arm.

"All done."

"Thanks Daph." He sighs in relief as the witch hazel begins to take effect, and sooths the soreness of his bruises. Daphne looks at Justin wondering how it came to this.

\---

A while later they are sitting on the crooked couch, Justin has put a t-shirt, and they are surrounded by silence. Daphne's mind is working on overtime trying to work out why Ethan has abused Justin, and why Justin had taken the beatings instead of walking out.

"Let's hear it." Justin says, breaking the tense silence.

"What?" Daphne asks.

"I know that you probably have questions, go on." He says.

Daphne sighs. "Justin what the hell happened, why did Ethan do this to you?"

Justin huffs an empty laugh. "I'm his toy. He only acted nice to get me away from everyone. He says I look pretty with the decoration he gives me. I'm his to do what he wants with."

"Justin." Daphne starts getting angry at her friend for letting someone treat him this way. "Why are putting up with his bullshit? Just walk out! Come with me or go to Debbie, or Emmett, or even Brian!"

Justin laughs loudly, it's empty, cold. "They don't want me around! I'm just a burden to them. I pushed myself into their lives until they gave in and let me stay, but they don't want me. None of them not Debbie, not Emmett and certainly not Brian. He told me so from day one! I'm damaged Daph! Why would they want a stupid damaged kid? I should have just died when Chris bashed me, everyone would be better off." He sighs, his angry has dissipated into sadness.

Daphne looks at her friend in shock, that's not what people thought at all. "Justin, they do want you, they love you. We all do."

Justin scoffed, becoming angry again. "They don't love me, they pity me, _poor little Justin who got hit in the head now he can't even draw properly_. Okay maybe you and Mom love me, but they don't! Why should they? I'm nothing to them. I'm not Brian's lover, I'm not Deb's son, I'm not Emmett's friend, I'm not even Michael's business partner anymore! Why would they love a damaged whore like me?" Justin screamed, now pacing the floor. He had repeated words that Ethan had planted in his mind, and he believed them to be true.

Daphne looks at Justin. He was totally lost, what had Ethan been telling him? "Justin,"

"Daphne. You should go. I don't know when Ethan is going to be home. You shouldn't be here when he gets back." Justin says, exhausted from his outburst.

Daphne nods, knowing that Justin needs time to calm down. "Okay, I'll go. But call me if you need me, doesn't matter what time." She says with a soft smile.

Justin smiles back. "I will, thank you, for everything." Daphne picks up her bag, shrugs her coat on and walks to the door. "And, Daph," She turns to look back at her helpless friend. "Don't tell anyone." Daphne sighs, but agrees. Then she walks out the door.

Justin lays on the bed and curls up under the covers. Almost instantly falling asleep, tired from the events that day.

\---

Daphne sits in her car outside Justin's apartment building, she remembers the sight of his back, and the emptiness in his eyes. She starts sobbing into her hands. Her strong, brave best friend had survived getting bashed in the head, but he couldn't survive this. She knew, by the look in his eyes, that he had given up. Justin truly believed that the gang on Liberty Avenue didn't love him or want him around. Ethan had planted doubts in his mind, and forced them to grow, as well as nurturing doubts that were already there. On top of that he is physically hurting Justin. Daphne tries to steady her breathing, she is going to help her friend. She will tend to any wounds, and at the same time start to undo the web of lies that Ethan weaved. She would keep her promise to not tell anyone until Justin is at a point where he can believe that people care about him. Telling them now would only cement his feelings of them only taking him in from pity. However, she would drop little hints to Debbie, like telling her not to hug him to hard, and telling Emmett to be gentle with him, hopefully that will at least indicate that something's wrong. She looks at her watch, 10:15 pm. Justin had finished his shift around 9:30. She started the car and head towards Liberty Avenue. She hopes that Deb is still working and Emmett is there, she wants to talk to them now, while Justin isn't there.

Five minutes later she pulls up in front of the Diner, she sighs in relief when she sees Emmett sitting with the rest of the gang in their booth and Deb was carrying a tray of plates. She locks her car and walks into the Diner. She waits at the counter until Debbie comes to her.

"Hey Daphne!" Debbie practically yells as she walks behind the counter. "What can I get ya?"

"Oh, nothing thanks Deb. I just wanted to talk to you about Justin." At her sentence she could see Debbie's eyes turn serious, Debbie is suspicious of something already.

"What's up with Sunshine?" Debbie leans on her elbow, which she rested on the counter.

"Nothing. But when you hug him just be gentle and don't hug to hard." Daphne hopes that Debbie can't tell she's lying.

"Something's wrong I know it is. Tell me." Debbie demands.

"I can't, not now." Daphne pleas. "I'm handling it, please don't question Justin, he's a little insecure and I'm helping him."

Debbie looks deep into Daphne's eyes, and sees that something is definitely wrong but now is not the time to press. "Okay, you look after him."

"I will, I promise." Daphne says, completely sincere.

The gang are looking curiously at Debbie and Daphne. One, because Daphne hardly ever comes to the Diner without Justin, especially at this time of night, and two, because their conversation looks very serious. They watch as Debbie pats the young girl on the shoulder then walks away. Then Daphne approaches their table. She stops and looks at them, then turns to Emmett.

"Emmett can I talk to you for a minute please." Emmett nods at Daphne's softly pleading voice. They walk outside and the rest of the gang watch their conversation closely.

Daphne stops next to her car and turns around to face Emmett. "I know that your Justin's closest friend in the group." Emmett nods. "Well, I just wanted to tell you to be gentle with him, like hugs and pats on the back." Emmett looks at Daphne strangely.

"Why is he limping?" Emmett asks.

Daphne pauses, trying to think of something to say. Emmett thinks her pause is suspicious. "He twisted it yesterday morning, so it is a little tender. Just please, be gentle with him."

Emmett nods, he knows there's more but Justin didn't want them to know what it is so Emmett is going to respect that and not pry. Daphne gives him a quick hug, gets in her car, and leaves. Emmett walks back into the Diner. Ted, Michael, Ben and even Brian are looking at him expectantly, but first Emmett goes to Debbie. He tells her what Daphne said, and Deb does the same. The story about Justin's limping doesn't match, they both know that something is very wrong, but now's not the time for them to find out. Emmett walks back to the booth and sits down silently. The gang look at him, waiting for an explanation.

Ted speaks first. "Well, what was that about?"

Emmett looks at everyone around the table. He is not going to relay his conversation with Daphne or Debbie because they were the only two entrusted with the tidbits of information. So he simply says. "I don't know exactly, but something's wrong. Very wrong." Ted, Michael and Ben look a each other, knowing that the dull tone in Emmett's usually happy voice meant that something bad was happening, they just didn't know what. Brian gets an uneasy feeling in his stomach, he looks out of the window, in the direction Daphne's car went in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning; Violence.

Over the next few weeks Debbie and the gang became increasingly concerned about Justin. They watched as he became a shadow of his former self, losing his smile, the brightness in his eyes. They noticed the small winces when he bumped into someone, and the flashes of pain in his eyes as his hand cramped more frequently than they have seen in a long time. They were losing their Sunshine.

Daphne continued to treat Justin's bruises and wounds. She was saddened every time she saw him, the beatings were getting worse every time. Thankfully she was starting to get through to him. She shared stories with him. Stories of him and the gang from her point of view. Stories of the days at the hospital. Justin was beginning to consider that maybe, just maybe the gang did care for him, even if it was just a little.

That's when it happened.

\---

Justin is cleaning an empty table with a small smile of his face. Daphne had been looking after him, and with her medical knowledge his injuries healed pretty quickly and are less painful. His back had healed nicely, no infection. As predicted he now had small scares marring his back, but a least he is alive. Today isn't too bad. He had a black eye, which he had covered up, sore ribs and his hand is a little achy but that's it. A good day. He glances at the clock, 8:35. His shift finishes at 9:30, so he would probably see the gang before he left. It was still a little painful to see them and not be able to approach them but it is better than before. Daphne is trying to help him with his insecurities. She says that the gang do love him and tells him stories from her point of view and he is beginning to think that maybe they did care even if they don't now. The only people he is a little more convinced about are Debbie and Emmett. Debbie wouldn't crush him when she hugged him, and she gave him a huge genuine smile which made him feel warm inside. Emmett would frequently talk to him now, saying hello and asking about school, it is like they are friends again, hope starts to grow in his heart. But every time that hope grew a little more Ethan would crush it with the terrible truths he spouted. Justin's smile fell a little.

9:20. Justin is stood at the counter, re-filling the coffee pot. The Diner bell rings. Brian walks in. Justin becomes slightly nervous. The blonde is surprised that Brian has arrived before the rest of the gang but shrugs it off. Brian surprises him again by not sitting at the gang's booth and sitting on a stool right in front of him. The brunet's hazel eyes observe him, the blonde tries to stay calm under the gaze. Justin takes a deep breath.

"Coffee?" He asks.

Brian looks at him for a minute before he nods. Justin steps forward and fills up the white cup. Brian takes a sip.

"So, how are you?" Justin is taken back by Brian trying to make conversation.

"Erm, I'm okay, thanks. You?" Justin says.

Brian seems to contemplate his answer. "Good. How's Ian?" Justin huffs a laugh, trust Brian to not even remember the name of the man he left with.

" _Ethan_ , is fine thanks." Brian smirks when Justin corrects the name, he knew the fiddler's name but he didn't care for it, plus he made Justin smile even if it was only small.

\---

The two men at the counter in the Diner failed to notice the very fiddler they are talking about stood at the window, frowning at them. When he sees Justin smile his eyes darken, and anger starts to grow in the pit of his stomach. He had come to walk Justin home, and he sees _his_ toy flirting with that _Brian_! The man he stole the blonde from. Ethan turns around and starts stomping down the street, heading for the apartment.

\---

Brian can only savor Justin's smile for a moment, then it's gone. Brian inwardly sighed, he wishes that the blonde would smile like he used to. His sunshine smile that would light up the room and brighten even the darkest mood. He wanted his Sunshine back. He blinked. Only then does it hit him full force, he misses Justin. Of course Brian gets lonely at the Loft, he had become to expect Justin's stuff to be every where and the blonde there with a smile, and there is a hole in his chest but until now he didn't realize what is was. It is Justin. That hole was normal filled by Justin. He looks at the blonde as he takes another costumer's order. Brian now realizes what the ache is, it's the ache to touch Justin. The brunet hasn't touched Justin since that night the blonde came back to the Loft with tears in his eyes, Justin had laid down waiting for some sort of confession, anything, and Brian had wrapped his arm around him and stroked his wrist. That moment had pushed Justin to the edge, but Brian fucking 'Rage' at the _RAGE_ party had finally pushed Justin off the cliff into Ethan's arms. Brian inwardly curses himself for being so stupid, he cared for the boy and he had driven him away but it was what he thought was best for Justin. Now he is beginning to doubt that decision, Justin is a mere shadow of who he used to be, he hardly ever smiles any more for fuck sake. Brian looks at the blonde. His fingers twitch to run through that golden hair, to touch that porcelain skin, Brian clenches his hand into a fist.

\---

Emmett, Ted, Michael and Ben walk into the Diner at 9:25. They notice Brian sat at the counter, his fist clenched and a frustrated look in his eyes, they share confused glances. Michael places his hand on Brian's shoulder, the brunet slightly jumps at the touch, Michael decides to ignore it.

"Hey, Bri. Come sit." Michael says in his normal cheery voice. Brian smirks and rolls his eyes before sitting in the booth next to Mikey, who is in-between the brunet and Ben. Ted slides into the other side. Emmett sees Justin walk back behind the counter, a huge smile breaks across his face, he bounds up to the blonde.

"Hey Baby!" He calls excitedly.

Justin looks up at the flamboyant man, and a smile graces his lips. "Hey Em."

Emmett is grateful that he can cheer the blonde up, even if it's only a little. "How's today been?" He asks.

"The usual. You?" Justin says.

"You know, meeting with a few clients to discuss their events, not overly exciting." Emmett dismisses, but Justin knows that Emmett is extremely passionate about his party planning business. Justin's smile falls a little when he remembers the endless conversations that he and Emmett used to have.

Debbie's voice brings him out of his memories. "Sunshine! You can go now hon, see ya tomorrow!" She calls from across the Diner.

Justin's smile disappears completely, Emmett looks at the blonde curiously Justin used to be eager to leave the Diner to go dancing, or tricking, but now he seemed to be reluctant to leave the comfort the Diner provided.

"Thanks Deb." Justin replies with a fake smile. Then he takes off his apron and disappears to the staff lounge. Debbie and Emmett share looks, they had both seen his hesitance and fake smile. Justin reappears, says 'bye' to Emmett and Deb before disappearing out of the Diner without a second glance. Emmett sighs, he wishes he knew what was wrong. With a blank expression his sits next to Ted, the older man puts a comforting arm around him knowing how much Emmett cares and worries about Justin.

\---

As soon as Justin walks into the apartment he knows something's wrong. Ethan is sitting on the end of the bed eerily silent, but his expression screams anger and his eyes are black. Justin slowly enters and softly close the door behind him. He takes off his jacket and bag, then puts them on the old couch. He approaches slowly and with caution.

"Ethan?" He asks. He gets no reply. "Ethan?" Still no reply. "Ethan?" he says the violinists name a little louder and regrets it. This time the scruffy head shoots up and the black eyes stare right back at Justin. The blonde shrinks away. Ethan stands up, towering over Justin's cowering form.

"I saw you." Ethan spits out, glaring at Justin with more hate than Justin had ever seen. More hate than he had seen in his father's eyes, and Chris'. It terrified him.

"S-Saw me doing what?" Justin stuttered.

"Don't play innocent with me!" Ethan yells. "I saw you, in the Diner. Flirting with Brian. Is that why you continue working there? Huh. To see Brian? You whore! He doesn't want you! None of them want you!" Ethan screams, flinging his arms about in his rage. "But you still beg for their affection. I'm going to have to punish you." Ethan's voice is now scarily calm and icy. Justin's eyes widen impossibly as he sees Ethan pick up an old wooden baseball bat that the blonde hadn't seen when he had come in.

"Ethan, no, please. I wasn't flirting. I was giving him coffee. I was being polite." Ethan began to advance on him. "Ethan! Please, listen to me! Please." Justin's eyes filled with tears and fear courses through his veins like wild fire. Flashes of the car park at Prom slam to the front of his mind. "Please!" Justin begs, he holds his arm up as Ethan swings.

The fist blow hits his left wrist. Justin cries out in pain as he feels the bone crack. Tears stream down his face. The blonde tries to stand, to get away. He crouches onto his knees. Ethan swings at his ribs. Justin screams as pain stabs through his side. Ethan hits his ribs a few more times, Justin can barely stay on his knees.

"Please, Ethan." Justin cries out.

Ethan sneers. "You disgust me." He swings again, but Justin manages to grab the bat.

"Please, Ethan, listen to me. I wasn't flirting. I wasn't." The blonde sobs, the pain makes it hard to talk.

"You're a liar. You're pathetic. Even I don't want you anymore. Hopefully you'll die from your injuries this time." Ethan wrenches the bat from Justin's hands and hit's the blonde's shoulder, hard. It causes Justin to fall back. A chair is behind him. He hits the right side of forehead on the corner of the wooden piece of furniture. Everything goes black.

Ethan watches as Justin lays, lifeless, on the carpet his back to the window. Blood flowing from the gash in his forehead. Ethan is tired of his toy now. He throws the bat on the floor, then he picks up his violin and walks out the door.

The apartment is silent. Justin is once again left on the cold floor, after being beaten with a bat, to die.

\---

Justin's cell phone rings persistently. It is laid on the floor next to the blonde's body after it fell out of his pocket during the beating. Every now and again it will stop, only to start again moments later. It goes unanswered.

\---

Daphne paces along the floor in her apartment, she has being trying to get hold of Justin for 10 minutes. He isn't answering his cell. Something's wrong. She can feel it in her gut. She snaps her phone shut, slides it into her pocket, grabs her car keys and flies out the door.

Five minutes later she pulls up out side Justin and Ethan's apartment building. She locks her car then as calmly as possible makes her way up to the apartment. She knocks on the door. No answer. She knocks again. No answer.

"Justin?" Daphne calls out. No answer. She begins to panic. She places her hand on the door knob, praying that the door isn't locked, she turns it. She thanks the heavens when the door jars open. She pushes the door wide open. She screams. Daphne sees Justin laid, unmoving on the carpet, blood pouring from a wound in his head. He looks dead. She runs over and collapses at his side. She touches his hand, he's ice cold. His breaths are shallow and few. His heart beat is weak.

"Help me!" She screams hoping someone will hear. "Help!"

She leans over her best friends body and cries against his side.

"Oh my god." Someone gasps at the door. Daphne looks up to see a guy around her age.

"Please. Help me." She whispers. The guys pulls his cell phone out and she barely hears him talk to the operator, asking for an ambulance and telling them the address. She presses her wet face into Justin's side, rocking him back and forth, hoping with all her heart that the paramedics get there in time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang finds out the truth and Justin finally gets his happy ending.

Daphne is still holding Justin when the paramedics arrive. She sobs as they quickly check him over before placing him on a stretcher. Seeing the baseball bat Daphne finds a plastic bag, using the bed sheet to pick the bat up she puts it in the bag, knowing that it will be used as evidence against Ethan. Then she follows the paramedics down the stairs. Many people have come out of their apartments to see what's happening, gasping in horror when they see Justin. Daphne climbs into the back of the ambulance and sits beside Justin, holding his hand. On the way to the hospital she talks to him, telling him to hold on, to be strong. Tears slide down her cheeks.

About five minutes later Daphne is sitting on a plastic chair in a white hall way. They have taken Justin into surgery, apparently he has some internal bleeding. Daphne pulls hers and Justin's phones out of her pocket. She had picked up Justin's phone before leaving the apartment. She scrolls down his phone book until she finds Jennifer's number. She punches the number into her phone, she presses the green button and puts the phone to her ear. When she tells Jennifer that Justin is in the hospital the older woman starts to cry. Jennifer tells her that she is getting in her car now, Molly is at a friend's house, and she'll be there as soon as possible. Daphne hangs up and scrolls down to another number, Debbie Work. She knew that Debbie would still be on her shift at the Diner. She types the number into her phone and presses the green button.

\---

The ringing of the phone echoes through the Diner.

"Kiki! Can you get that?" Debbie yells, juggling a tray of plates.

Kiki answers the phone. "Deb. It's for you. Some one called Daphne." Debbie's head shoots up at the name. The gang, who are still there, start paying attention as well. Debbie puts the tray of the counter, which Kiki picks up, and puts the phone to her ear.

"Daphne. It's Deb. What? Oh my god. I'll be there right away. I'll leave now. Have you called Jennifer? Good. Okay, I'm leaving now. See you soon." Debbie slams the phone down. She rushes into the staff lounge and grabs her coat. She's in full panic. Justin's in the hospital, she needs to go now, she doesn't care if it leaves Kiki on her own. She dashes back into the Diner.

"Kiki! I gotta go! Family emergency!" Debbie yells, she's on her way out when someone grabs her arm. It's Michael.

"Ma, what's going on?" He looks into his mother's frantic eyes.

"It's Sunshine. He's in the hospital." At her words all five people in the booth quickly stand and throw their money on the table. Then all six people are hurrying out the Diner. Deb jumps into Brian's Jeep, while Michael, Ben and Emmett climb into Ted's car. Then they are all speeding towards the hospital.

\---

When the six arrive they are pointed in the direction where Daphne and Jennifer are sitting. They all bustle into the corridor. Debbie rushes over to a sobbing Jen. Daphne had stopped crying but there are tear tracks down her face. Daphne had told Jennifer the whole story when she got here, that's why Jen is in hysterics.

"What the hell happened?" Debbie demanded, looking at Daphne. Who sighs.

"Ethan's been abusing Justin." At her sentence Jen cries harder, and there are collective gasps, and one 'Fuck' and bang from Brian.

"That little fucker!" Deb curses.

"It wasn't to bad at first, but it got worse. Justin felt like he couldn't leave, Ethan told him lies, he told Justin that none of you guys wanted him around or loved him. He told him that you wished he had died after Prom." Daphne goes on.

"I'll kill him!" Brian yells.

"That's not true, of course we love him." Emmett says, tears running freely down his face.

"He wasn't sure of that. Brian never told him he cared, he just pushed him away. You all were distant from him after he left with Ethan. Hell, at Mel and Linds' anniversary Michael told Brian that he should have just left Justin laying on the floor after he got bashed, that's why Brian punched him." Michael looks at Daphne shocked. "Yes, Justin overheard you, and he told me."

"Is that true Michael?" Debbie asks. Michael looks at the floor. "You little bastard! How could you say that?" Debbie screams at her son before slapping him really hard. The other's were looking at Mickey in shame and disappointment.

"I'm not blaming any of you, but is there any wonder that he doubted you cared." Daphne says. The whole gang look ashamed.

"I don't know what happened tonight. I called Justin several times and he didn't answer. I went to the apartment and found him on the floor. He had a gash on his forehead and there was an old wood baseball bat on the floor, it had flecks of blood on it. Ethan wasn't there." Daphne says, shivering unpleasantly as she remembers they way her best friend had looked when she opened the door.

"That fucker used a bat?" Debbie yelled. Daphne nods. "Poor Sunshine, he must have been so scared." Debbie says softly, and finally lets her self cry. Ben holds her, when she refuses to be touched by Michael.

Daphne has her arm around Jen. The rest of the gang have chairs now. Ben is sitting next to Debbie, comforting her, and Michael sits next to Ben staring at his hands ashamed. Ted is holding Emmett, and Brian is pacing. All they can do is wait.

\---

"Jennifer Taylor." They all look up when they hear someone speak.

"Yes." Jen stands up and faces the doctor.

"Your son is out of surgery. We stopped the internal bleeding without any problem. I must warn you, he has severe bruising, a fractured wrist, one broken rib, three cracked ribs, a gash on the right side of his forehead. Hopefully it hasn't caused any damage, but we won't know until he wakes up. He's resting now, and I believe that he will make a full recovery." The doctor explains, and smiles at the end.

"Oh thank god." Jennifer sighs. Everyone else visibly relaxes as well. The doctor leads them all to Justin's room, through the window they see him sleeping peacefully, for now. They can also see the black eye and bruises on his arms.

"Mrs. Taylor you may sit with him, when he wakes up you can all go in a see him for a few minutes then let him rest." The doctor smiles then walks away.

"Oh Sunshine. I can't believe that this is the second time we have had to see him like this." Debbie sighs.

"At least he's alive." Jennifer says before going into the room, sitting in the chair next to the bed and holding her son's hand.

\---

"Mom." Jennifer is jolted awake as she hears Justin speak to her. Jennifer stands up and rushes to the door. She flings it open surprising everyone in the hallway.

"He's awake!" She exclaims before disappearing back into the room. Debbie and Daphne rush into the room behind her, followed by Emmett and Brian, then Ted, and lastly Ben and Michael. They all crowd around the bed as Justin rubs his eyes. Debbie and Daphne are stood on one side of the bed, and Jennifer on the other while the rest stand at the foot of the bed. When Justin opens his eyes again the first thing he sees is bright colors and red hair.

"Deb?" He asks. He vision becomes clearer.

"Hey Sunshine. You sure gave us a scare." She says, brushing her hand through his hair.

Justin turns to his mother. "Hi Mom."

"Hi sweetie. Oh, Justin, why didn't tell us?" She asks softly. Justin still hasn't noticed the other people at the end of the bed.

"Tell you what?" Justin tries to fake innocence.

"Don't try that Sunshine. Daphne already told us." Debbie says firmly.

Justin tries to glare at his friend, but fails. He knew that he would have to tell them eventually, and he was glad his didn't have to do it himself.

"I'm sorry, I just -"

"Didn't think we cared, yeah we got that." Brian snaps, cutting Justin off. The blonde finally notices the five people at the end of his bed. His eyes widen in shock, he hadn't expected them to be here. "What a load of shit!" Justin refuses to look Brian in the eye.

"Baby, we love you. No matter what. We will always love you. Don't forget that." Emmett says quietly. Justin looks at his right hand as he fidgets with the sheet.

Michael steps forward a little. "Look Justin, I'm sorry about what I said a Melanie and Lindsey's anniversary. I was angry at you, but that doesn't give me the excuse to say what I did."

Justin looks at Michael. "I know why you said it. I understand."

"But you should have to. I was wrong to say it. Where would we all be without you! Ma would be stuck to the couch eating ice cream and ordering shit she doesn't need off the TV. Emmett would probably be sat next to her. Ted would be sat in his apartment, wasting away, watching 'The Yellow Submarine' and crying over and over because it's you favourite film. Ben would be completely stuck without having another educated person to talk to. I'd be sat in my comic book store all day wishing that you were there to have fun with, and create _RAGE_. Brian would probably be in a gutter somewhere!" Brian rolled his eyes, but didn't disagree. Justin was stunned by Michael speech. "You see Justin, we'd all be lost without you. You're part of the family, you're stuck with us now. We've all been worried for weeks wondering where our Sunshine's gone. So no matter what stupid insults we say, or dumb things we do, you're family Boy Wonder." Debbie has tears in her eyes.

Justin smiles softly. "Thanks."

Slowly everyone hugs Justin and leaves the room, promising to visit again, and surprisingly Justin knew that they would. He is beginning to believe they do love him after all. The only person who doesn't move is Brian. Justin still doesn't look at him. Jennifer glances between the two and decides to give them a moment alone.

Justin hears Brian close the curtain, covering the window, making sure that the gang don't spy before sitting in the chair next to the hospital bed. Justin still doesn't look at him.

"Justin." Brian's voice makes Justin shiver a little, but he still doesn't look at the brunet. "Justin look at me." Justin still keeps his eyes down. Brian sighs. Justin feels soft fingers grasp his chin and gently forces him to look into hazel eyes. "I know that I didn't treat you how you deserve to be treated. I pushed and pushed, which drove you into his arms. I let you go because I thought that he would be better for you, treat you better than I did. It doesn't mean that I don't care. Since you left I missed you. All the times I saw you at the Diner I wanted to pull you into my arms and never let go. But I wouldn't because I thought you were happy with him. I never stopped caring about you." Brian's eyes are soft and sincere. Justin knows that Brian is telling the truth and the blonde begins to feel happiness again. He nods his head, showing Brian that he understood and accepted that he was telling the truth. Brian slowly leans over and places a soft kiss on Justin's lips. God, how Brian had missed Justin's kisses. Justin kisses him back. They share a slow, gentle but passionate kiss. Showing each other that they still cared.

\---

A few days later Justin is discharged from hospital, after checking that there was no head trauma. He has a cast around his left wrist, which would come off in about six weeks. His ribs would take about four weeks to heal, his sides were a bit sore but other than that he was fine. His bruises have begun to fade, and he is now more confident that the gang care about him. They had all visited more than once, and had called too. He is moving into Daphne's for now, not wanting to move back in with his Mom. Brian had been there on the day he was discharged, and unfortunately he had seen the scars on Justin's back as he had been changing. They weren't horrible, they were jagged pink lines, noticeable but not ugly. Justin hated that he had them, and how he had got them, but it's part of him now like his gimp hand. Every bad thing leaves a wound, visible or not, he just happened to have a visible one as well. Brian had not be pleased when Justin had told him how they had come to be there.

Justin is finally on the way back to being himself, to being Sunshine. He is happier than he has been in months.

\---

The day after Justin is discharged Ted, Emmett, Brian, Michael and Ben are sitting in the Diner having lunch. Everyone has forgiven Mikey for what he said at the party, mainly because he made up for it with his speech at the hospital. Debbie is running around the Diner as usual. Everything is getting back to normal, all they need is for Justin to full heal and come back to the Diner and into their lives again. They are happily chatting when the Diner bell rings. Emmett, who is facing the door, starts glaring at someone and stands up. The others, confused, look at the door and see who has enters they all stand up too. Ethan.

The violinist spots them and marches towards them. The rest of the Diner now watching the scene unfold.

"Where's Justin?" The scruffy haired man yells.

Debbie comes to stand next to them. "Like we'd tell you asshole!"

"I need to know where he is! He is my boyfriend." He smirks triumphantly at Brian, and if looks could kill Ethan would be six feet under burning in the pits of hell.

"Not anymore he isn't." Emmett speaks up.

"We know what you did to him." Michael states.

Ethan looks taken back, but regains himself. "I did nothing to him."

"You lying prick! You beat him! You fucking put him in the hospital!" Debbie screams at the top of the lungs. The whole Diner stands up after hearing that, they were all quite fond of Justin and would not tolerate anyone hurting one of their own. Ethan looks a little scared now.

Brian steps forward. He draws his fist back and slams in into Ethan's face. The violinist collapses to the floor holding his bleeding nose. "You are not to contact Justin ever again, if you so much as bump into him in the street you'll have five angry fags, two angry fag hags, one mad Mother Taylor, and by the looks of it, the rest of Liberty Avenue after you. And that's if the police don't catch you first."

Ethan looks around the Diner and takes in the huge bears and angry queens glaring at him. He takes one last look at Brian and the gang before fleeing. The whole Diner cheers, before going back to their meals.

\---

A few days later the gang find out from Carl Horvath that they did catch Ethan, and his trail is in a few weeks, but Carl is almost 100% certain that he'll get sentenced for attempted murder. The gang isn't so sure after what happened with Hobbs, but Carl assures them that they can't use the 'he's a fag and flaunted it' because Ethan's gay too, and Ethan has got a record of assault. So things were looking up.

\---

A week after hearing that Ethan is being held until the trail Justin enters the Diner. On the way several people had said it was good to see him and they are glad he's okay, which made him smile. He closes the Diner door behind him.

"Sunshine!" Before he can even take a step Debbie engulfs him in a hug, which he fully returns.

After Debbie releases him he gets to work, and he is once again met by people saying how glad they are that he's alright. Justin hardly notices how the time flies. He feels like his old self again. When the gang enter the Diner a full blown sunshine smile breaks across his face.

"There's that smile we all missed!" Emmett calls cheerfully as he hugs Justin. The blonde takes their order and they are joking around like they used to. Justin can't believe that he's got his family back, but he's glad he has.

\---

A few weeks later, after his injuries had almost completely healed, Justin is cleaning tables when an arm wraps around his waist and turns his around. He smiles brightly when he comes face-to-face with Brian. The brunet kisses him, which he fully returns.

"Hey, Sunshine you're supposed to be working. Brian stop distracting him." Debbie calls jokingly.

They two break apart with smiles on their faces. Justin moves behind the counter and starts wiping it down. Brian follows. Justin feels Brian watching him, so he turns to the brunet.

"What?" He says with a smile.

Brian rolls his lips into his mouth. "Move back in with me." He blurts out. Justin is taken back.

"What?" The blonde asks again, stunned.

"Move back in with me, please." Brian says again.

"Why?" Justin asks warily.

"I miss you, you twat. I want to come home to you and your sunshine smile." Brian says quietly, and rolls his lips into his mouth again. "I'll even try being monogamous, cut down on the clubbing, and drinking and drugs and -"

"Brian!" Justin interrupts him. "If I did move back in we'd back to the rules we had before. I don't want you to change, I fell in love with you just the way you are."

"So you'll move back in with me." Brian says.

"Yes." Justin answers with a smile.

"Yes what?" Brian teases.

"Yes, I'll move back in with you!" Justin laughs.

Brian rolls his lips into his mouth, trying not to smile. Then he leans over the counter and the two kiss again. Justin knows that from now on things are going to get better.


	6. Bonus Chapter. Ethan Explained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short chapter from Ethan's view leading up to the events in chapter 1. Some people who have read this story before have been confused by the very sudden violence Ethan displayed, this chapter is basically an explanation of what was going on in Ethan's head at that point, and leading up to it.

_After the Rage party_

It had taken a lot of time to woo Justin away from Brian, _the Stud of Liberty Avenue_. Ethan scoffed outwardly at the thought of the man, someone who thought he owned everything he touched, an arrogant son of a bitch.

Ethan had really liked Justin, his blonde hair, blue eyes, artistic flair and fiery spirit. He is everything Ethan wanted, everything he wanted to own. A trophy of sorts, a good looking, and smart boyfriend he could hang on his arm as he rocketed to success in the music industry. The greasy haired violinist smirked as he sat next to said blonde who was currently sleeping soundly; it was past midnight after all.

Ethan gingerly ran a finger down the pale expanse of Justin's arm, admiring the unmarred skin. His fist clenched, he ached to mark that beautiful skin as his own, and then everyone would know the blonde belonged to him. The possessive, jealous beast inside him reared its head. He gently pushed it down, reassuring it that soon, but not now.

He had to make sure Justin wasn't going anywhere.

\---

_After Melanie and Lindsey's party_

Ethan had heard exactly what Michael had said about Justin, and he saw the effect the words had on the blonde man. Justin had been distraught by the comment, it made Ethan smile inwardly. The beast inside him chuckled as well, knowing that its time was approaching.

\---

_After the incident at the Diner between Michael and Justin_

Ethan listened as Justin told him about the conversation with Michael; the blonde lamented the loss of a business partner and possible friend. He also told the dark haired man that Brian's friends seemed to be taking his side, leaving Justin feeling alone. Ethan knew that soon he would be able to unleash the beast, he was thankful for it too as it was getting very restless.

\---

_2 weeks later_

Ethan had been playing his violin in the park for hours, his fingers were sore and numb from the cold. He was irritated more than usual, the beast inside him was becoming almost too much to push down, it itched to start the process of marking Justin. Along with that, the pitiful amount he had earned pissed him off.

He began storming home, his knuckles clenched, one around his violin case, and the other fisted in his coat. The anger bubbles within him, he knew it had to be released soon, but he had to wait until he was at the apartment. Didn't want just anyone seeing an outburst.

The dark haired man stomps into the apartment, slamming the door and all but throwing his so-called precious violin case on the floor. The anger finally overflowed.

"Those idiots! Can they not recognize genius when they hear it?" Ethan yells at the top of his voice. "Nine dollars! NINE dollars! That's all I made today." His fists clench further, his nails digging into his skin. He sees Justin become hyper aware of his movements, the beast lets out a throaty laugh.

"E-Ethan, calm down. I'm sure it'll be better tomorrow." Justin tries to ease away the tension in the room.

Ethan whirls around to face him, an evil, condescending smirk on his face, the beast brewing in the pit of his stomach until it rushed faster and faster to the surface.

"You. What do you know? Your work is mediocre at best! You are mediocre! Do you not realize? I took pity on you! Your friends, your _lover,_ " Ethan spat the word, "They don't want you. You are worthless to them. That's why it was so easy to get you. They didn't put up a fight to keep you, because they don't want you!"

Justin flinched at Ethan's words, the beast hissed with delight. "They don't want a stupid kid. They don't want a damaged kid, who can't even draw properly 'cause poor _little_ Justin was bashed in the head!" Tears started to fall down Justin's cheeks, causing Ethan to almost smile with mad glee.

"No one wants you Justin. Not you Father, not your friends, not even your own Mother, and most certainly not Brian. He only looked after you for this long because he felt guilty. I bet that he wished you had died. So that he would have had to put up with your panic attacks, your nightmares and just you in general. I bet they all wished you had died. It would have saved them a lot of trouble."

"You're wrong!" Justin screams, his tears come freely. The beast inside Ethan snarls at the back talk, rage coils inside Ethan like poisonous snakes.

Ethan pulls his right hand back, and then flings it forward at full speed. Connecting with Justin's left cheek. The blonde falls to the floor, bowled over by the force. He covers his cheek, Ethan's hand tingles with pain. Justin looks disbelievingly at Ethan. The greasy haired man stares down at him, with a dark, superior look. The beast almost purrs with the pleasure of the violent action, a slight part of the tension eased from Ethan's body. Almost relieved to finally have marked the other male.

"No one loves you anymore Justin. You are my toy now. You belong to me now. You can't leave, because you are unwanted by everyone else you know." Ethan's voice was calm; the beast preened itself at the proclamation of ownership. The blonde shrunk back, making the beast purr loader in contentment of its pet showing submission. Ethan smiled.


End file.
